Integrating art activities in the classroom
It’s that time of the year and children’s art week is back. Children all over the country is celebrating art by getting involved in art activities.
This year the celebration of art will take place over 3 weeks, from 29th of June to 19th of July. Artistic activities will take place across the country online, at home and in school.
To celebrate children’s art week, we have paired up with Selina and Veena Sohal to bring you art activities you can do during this art week and created a list of fun art activities for your pupils to get involved in.
Each week will focus on different themes:
- 1st week: The Natural World
- 2nd week: Connecting across generations
- 3rd week: Literacy and creative writing
Creative drawing
Celebrate children’s art week by encouraging pupils to get involved in creative arts. Did you know most children have an interest in drawing or painting? Encourage them to express their creativity through painting and drawing.
Give children the opportunity to decorate the classroom with their own artwork. Have fun with your class by getting children to produce arts in your classroom with watercolour paintings. They are a fantastic medium for pupils to use and it creates artistic images. A great way to get children interested in arts is by creating a theme that you want children to work towards, and this will help them understand what they need in order to make their painting look good.
You can even make art playful for them to enjoy by getting pupils to paint their own style of themes. Did you know art, creativity and play go hand in hand? These are important attributes for child development, learning self-confidence and developing their problem-solving skills. When children play it allows them to explore their creativity and gives them the freedom to make the right choices.
Create nature collage
Get children to brush up on their art skills by creating nature collages. It’s easy and fun and it gives the children the opportunity to practice their art skills while inspiring them with the natural world around them. Let it influence their work. Start by getting children to go outside and explore nature then once their back in the class you can give them colouring pencils for them to produce nature art. Did you know by getting children involved in nature and producing art around it, helps them to stimulate creativity and explore their imaginations further?
Make this activity a way for children to socialise with their peers. Children enjoy work and have more fun when they are with their friends. It gives them the chance to express their feelings, exchange ideas and play.
Crayon art
Children love to be involved in the process of creating and making art, but sometimes they don’t know how to, so why not encourage children in your classroom to produce art using crayons? This will help them to stay engaged in the process as well as learn valuable lessons about how to create something from scratch.
You can start helping children to melt old and broken crayons on a canvas to produce melted crayon art. This is a fun and collaborative art project and it will keep children interested – and they can even start by working with their peers to melt old and broken crayons.
You can even encourage children to melt crayons on rocks. You can start by creating a scavenger hunt around the school garden where children can collect rocks. Then once each person has collected their own rocks, wash the rocks until they have been cleaned. Once the rocks have been cleaned, get children to produce their creativity on rocks by using crayons. This will be unique, and fun and will make it look colourful.
Download our worksheet
Get children to create memory story board on a theme or a topic of their choice by using coloured pencils to illustrate their ideas. You can start by downloading our worksheet and handing it to your class where children can illustrate their creativity in 6 different boxes. This will help children become more interested in arts and creativity and will give them an opportunity to enhance their creative thinking.
Did you know story boards help children develop their motor skills? It also helps them develop their literacy and creative writing skills.
Paint thumbprint pictures
Painting is a great way for a child to develop and grow in the early years of their childhood. Did you know painting helps a child to convey ideas, express emotions, explore colours and create artistic work? You can start by getting pupils in your class to dip their hands in different coloured paints or even paint their hands and press their hands down on coloured paper. Messy play is important and it will help children to relax and explore their creativity in different ways.
Lastly, create opportunities and allow children to explore art through different art activities. Not only this will support their development and growth but it will also keep them motivated and interested in art. So why not give your pupils the chance to explore art through our various range of art activities for them to try during children’s art week?
Give children the freedom to express themselves through art. Download our printable worksheet and make this year’s art week fun and exciting for children.
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